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Douglas opposes wind farm on Little Equinox

The Manchester Journal|January 5, 2006
VermontGeneral

MANCHESTER - During his visit for the Northshire Day School ribbon cutting ceremony, Governor James Douglas said he does not support construction of the five-turbine commercial wind farm proposed at Little Equinox Mountain here in Manchester.


"I'm not in favor of windmills that are bigger than the Bennington Battle Monument," said Douglas, who recently came out in opposition to a project proposing 26 398-foot turbines on ridgelines in the northern Vermont towns of Sheffield and Sutton.

In addition to electricity, the 390-foot turbines would produce $100,000 per year in real estate taxes, with almost $90,000 of that going to the state under Act 68, according to Arthur Scutro, a Manchester Village Planning Commission member.

Yet, Douglas said that while he supports pursuing renewable energy sources and alternatives "industrial wind is different." These projects require "a lot of infrastructure and industrialization for a relatively small amount of power."

Even if all of the …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]
"I'm not in favor of windmills that are bigger than the Bennington Battle Monument," said Douglas, who recently came out in opposition to a project proposing 26 398-foot turbines on ridgelines in the northern Vermont towns of Sheffield and Sutton.

In addition to electricity, the 390-foot turbines would produce $100,000 per year in real estate taxes, with almost $90,000 of that going to the state under Act 68, according to Arthur Scutro, a Manchester Village Planning Commission member.

Yet, Douglas said that while he supports pursuing renewable energy sources and alternatives "industrial wind is different." These projects require "a lot of infrastructure and industrialization for a relatively small amount of power."

Even if all of the projects currently proposed in the state were built, he said, they would not equal the output of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, which accounts for 34 percent of all of Vermont's energy needs, or the Hydro-Quebec power contract, which provides 37 percent of Vermont's energy needs.

Vermont's ridgelines should remain untouched, he said.

Glebe project revised

In a related development, Catamount Energy said last week that using longer blades will allow the company to produce about the same amount of power with 19 wind turbines that it would have with 27 turbines on Glebe Mountain in South Londonderry.

Robert Charlebois, vice president of development for Catamount Energy, said the towers would still be 263 feet high but larger blades (150 feet or more) could lift the structure to a height of more than 400-feet to the tip of the blade.

Last year Londonderry voters approved a new town plan banning development of mountain ridgelines, but the final decision on the Glebe Mountain project belongs to the Vermont Public Service Board.

Charlebois said Glebe Mountain Wind Energy LLC will apply for a state certificate of public good from the Public Service Board by March. He has also, as required by law, sent formal notice of the intent to file to the Windham Regional Commission and the towns of Londonderry and Windham.

Source:http://www.manchesterjournal.…

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